


All Nighter

by JustAndrea



Category: Mina and the Count
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 15:57:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8167645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAndrea/pseuds/JustAndrea
Summary: Having a best friend who's nocturnal definitely isn't the easiest sometimes...





	

One of the advantages (or rather, disadvantages) of having an older sister, is that you could see first hand what you will get to do when you grow up. Of course, Mina wasn’t interested in most of these things. 

Sure, the make-up was fun to wear every once in a while, and being able to drive sounded great! (It would certainly make her late night and early morning trips to the Count’s castle a lot easier) But then there were other things, like having to deal with high school homework and date gross boys. She definitely wasn’t looking forward to that stuff.

However, there was one thing her sister had that she was secretly jealous of - no bedtime. 

While it was always Mina who had to be told when to go to bed and when she had to be home by, Lucy got to stay up all night if she wanted to! It just wasn’t fair! “Your sister has work to do,” her father would say to her whenever the issue was brought up, “And sometimes she has to stay up late to finish it.”

“But she gets to go out with friends on the weekends!” Mina would always argue back. There was no way her sister was doing homework on those nights - not with how happy and excited she was about it. And who could even study with all those loud, goofy teenage girls? (Mina really hoped she wouldn’t end up being one.)

“Well, your sister is just older than you, so she’s able to stay up later. But little girls like you still need their sleep.” She didn’t need sleep! She got plenty! And she could stay up late no problem - especially if she was playing with the Count! But her father refused to budge on the issue, and the problem would remain unsolved until the next time it was brought up, leaving Mina frustrated and wishing she could just get older already so she could stay up all night. 

However, when she did finally experience her first ‘all nighter’, it wasn’t quite as fun as Mina thought it would have been.

“Ugh.” The now ten year old girl rested her head on her desk, her groan mimicking that of Frankenstein’s. “Finally… That took forever!” And she wasn’t exaggerating. 

Lifting her head up, Mina looked over her papers with tired eyes. Calculations, lengthy word problems, long division, and even a bit of algebra because she swore her teacher enjoyed torturing kids. But it was done, and she was certain she had gotten all the right answers. 

*Yaaaaawn* The red head rubbed her eyes. “Geez… What time is it?” Her bat shaped clock read 11:45, sending a small jolt through her. “That late already?! Oh no…” She couldn’t miss it, not again!

Quickly, Mina gathered up her papers and shoved them in her folder before grabbing her blood-red jacket off the door. “Gotta hurry!” 

Stepping into her shoes, she ran out of her bedroom - making sure to turn off the light on the way out - and then promptly screeched to a halt at the top of the staircase. A neon blue light could be seen from the dark living room. Mina facepalmed. How could she forget? Wednesday nights were documentary marathons on Channel 23. Her father - always fascinated with historical facts and near useless trivia - never missed them.  

“I could try and sneak past him…” Mina whispered to herself. She then scowled slightly. No, that wouldn’t work. The floor always creaked a bit right in front of the door - not too loudly, but loud enough to hear if you were in the living room. Plus, she couldn’t hide her shadow, now matter how quick she was, and she was pretty sure her father would notice if the front door was opened. 

Mina sighed, feeling at a loss of what to do. She could go to bed… But- Her best friend’s face flashed in front of her. His disappointed frown, or even worse, his annoyed glare. She had already missed several visits this month alone! Who wouldn’t start to get annoyed after that? Her heart constricted slightly as she imagined what he would say once she did finally make it over to his dark castle.

_“If you do not have time for me, then I do not have time for you! Why don’t you go find some other best friend to not visit!”_

Clenching her fists slightly, Mina headed back to her room - though she wasn’t going to sleep. No, she was going to wait. How much longer could her father’s documentary last anyway?

…Apparently another hour. And in that time, Mina had listened to her favorite CD (with headphones, of course) twice, walked around her room, watched nocturnal critters from her window, stopped by the bathroom to splash some water on her face, and even pinched herself a few times - Anything to keep her awake. 

When she saw her father’s figure move passed her room (barely looking into it and easily thinking the pillows shoved under her blanket was his daughter), she quietly snuck out. Once she was certain he was in his own room, Mina sighed. “Okay… Gotta get to Cou- *yaaaawn!* 

She quickly covered her mouth. No! You’re not going to sleep! Not yet! Still determined, Mina made sure to grab a couple cans of pop (with plenty of caffeine in them) from the kitchen and shoving them into her backpack before heading out the door. 

Before when she just had to walk there, going to the Count’s would take half an hour. Thankfully, once she got her bike for Christmas at the tender age of eight, she was able to cut that time in half - and as an added bonus, the cool evening air blowing past her face kept her awake. Smiling to herself, she increased her speed, keeping her eyes on the looming tower that stood in front of the bright, full moon.

_*knock knock! Knock knock knock!*_

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Just hold on…” Mina gave the old hunchback a friendly smile, even if the gesture wasn’t returned. 

“Hi Igor!” “Yes, hello child. I didn’t think you would be joining us this evening.” 

The girl flinched slightly and forced a small laugh. “Of course I would come! I love visiting with you guys!”

“Yes yes, I know,” Igor nodded, clearly wishing he didn’t, “Well, the Master is in his study, wrapped up in one of those _human_ comic books. I don’t know why he enjoys them so much, the art is terrible!”

“I don’t think it looks that bad,” Mina replied as she stepped inside, “In fact, I think the art in it looks really cute!”

“Exactly,” Igor sneered, holding back a grimace. Mina just giggled and headed towards the vampire’s study. Her smile only grew as she heard the Count’s loud laugh. 

“Oh, such a mischievous cat!” The Count wiped a tear away from his eye. The concept of a talking, grumpy cat who constantly tormented his owner was so ridiculous - and yet so hilarious! “Vhat will he do next?”

“Is that the newest volume? I didn’t even know it was out yet.” The Count blinked, and turned his chair.

“Mina?” he said, clearly surprised, “Vhat are you doing here?”

“Well, it’s night!” Mina replied, “Nights are when I visit you!”

“Yes… But, I did not think you would be visiting this late,” the Count mumbled as he glanced at his old grandfather clock, it’s face telling him that it was nearly two in the morning. There had been times when Mina came over around five in the morning, just to get in some playtime before school, but two? 

“W-Well, it’s not that late!” Mina insisted, “I’m not even that tired! Really! And, I haven’t visited since Sunday… So, yeah! I’m here! Come on, let’s play!”

The Count still didn’t look too sure, but when he saw the eager look Mina was giving him, he couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, very well.” Mina gave cheered, and the Count placed the comic book back on his shelf - not caring if it looked out of place next to the volumes of literature that was hundreds of years old. 

“It really is a pleasant surprise to have you here, Mina,” he told her. Honestly, he wasn’t expecting her until at least the weekend. He had seen thousands of examples of studying taking up a person’s free time, after all.

“Yeah! It’s nice to be here too!” Mina chimed, causing her best friend to chuckle.

“Indeed. So, what would you like to play first? I do believe we have a puzzle that needs finishing.”

Puzzles? Mina held back a cringe. Puzzles were fun, but only when she wasn’t fighting sleep. “Uh, how about we play, um… Jump rope! Yeah, that could be fun! Or, or maybe we can take turns sliding down the railing again! That’s always fun! Or-” 

Unable to stop it, a long yawn managed to escape her mouth. But as soon as it was finished, Mina decided to just pretend it hadn’t happened. “O-Or, uh, we haven’t played dolls in a while! Let’s do that! Heck, let’s do all three! We’ve got the whole night!” She smiled widely at him, hoping he would just play along and their night wouldn’t be ruined. 

Unfortunately, the Count wasn’t smiling back. “Mina…”

“What?” The red head asked immediately, feigning innocence, “Do you wanna pick the game?”

The vampire didn’t reply right away. He simply stared at her, making Mina fidget slightly. He could see the bags under her eyes, as well as the way they would blink slightly more than usual. “You’re tired,” he stated finally.

“What?! N-No I’m not! I promise!”

“You are.”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am-”

There was a loud groan. “Will you two PLEASE stop arguing?!”

“Sorry Igor…” The ten year old felt another yawn rise up in her throat, but tried to push it down. She ended up only being about half successful - which meant the Count clearly noticed it. 

“You need to go home and go straight to bed, young lady,” he told her firmly.

“B-But-! I, I’m not tired! And besides-” She quickly slipped off her backpack and fished out a can of pop. “One can of this and I can stay up all night!” She prepared to open it, but it was snatched from her hands before she could. “Hey!”

The vampire got out his reading glasses and read over the ingredients, eyes widening slightly. Over seven hundred years on this earth, and even he didn’t recognize some of what was in the drink! Though one ingredient he did recognize - caffeine. 

“Mina… I don’t vant you forcing yourself to stay awake!” he told her, “Especially if you have to put this disgusting concoction in you in order to do it!”

The girl’s lip quivered slightly. “B-But… I wanna stay awake… I wanna play with you…”

“…” The Count sighed. Getting on his knees so they could see each other better, he opened his arms out. Unsurprisingly, Mina didn’t waste any time rushing into them. Once they hugged for a few moments, he started to speak again. “Now… Tell me vhat this is all about…”

“…” Mina’s grip on him tightened slightly. “…I keep missing visits with you cause of dumb homework… I didn’t want to miss another one… I didn’t want you to hate me cause I couldn’t come over to play every night like I used to…”

“Oh, Mina…” The Count held her closer. “I could never hate you for something like that! I could never hate you period! I know that you have your own life and… and that I may sometimes be left out of it in order for you to do the more important things, like school work and sleep.”

He felt her shake her head. “You’re the most important thing…” she told him, “You’re the most important thing to me.”

Despite his heart being dead and non-beating for nearly a thousand years, the Count still felt warmth in his chest when he heard that. Mina always had a way of doing that to him - of making the previously thought to be impossible a reality. But even so…

“Even so, I can’t let you ignore those things just for me. You’ll make yourself sick if you try to deprive yourself of sleep…” He heard a small sniffle, and he started to gently rub her back.

“I know it is hard… And I am afraid it may only get worse. The older you get, the more responsibilities you get.” There was a small pause. “But, that doesn’t mean we have to say goodbye.”

The Count gently pulled her off of him so he could look her in the eyes. Mina gave another small sniffle, but didn’t look away - and even smiled a bit when he brushed away a stray tear of hers. “Mina… You must remember that I vill always care about you, and that I vill never hate you. And, vhether you visit every night or once a month, I vill always consider you my best friend.”

Mina was smiling fully now, and nearly jumped back into the Count’s arms, giving him another hug. “Thanks Count… I love you.”

The Count happily returned the hug, holding his best friend - his surrogate daughter - as close as he could. “I love you too, Mina.”

A few seconds passed, and a small yawn could be heard. “Come now.” He stood up, holding the girl in his arms, “Let us get you to bed.”

“Still don’t wanna sleep, even if I need to…” Mina mumbled, snuggling up close to the vampire’s chest and letting her eyes close slightly, “I just got here…”

“I know… But, ve will just have to vait until the weekend to play. And, maybe I could even come over to your house so you don’t have to make a second trip. …Just, ah, make sure your sister is not home, alright?”

Mina giggled. “Yeah, I don’t want her around either. Don’t worry, she always goes out with friends on Friday.”

“Ah, perfect.” He glanced down at Mina, quickly noticing how she still refused to close her eyes fully no matter how hard it was to keep them open. 

Softly, he started to sing. Mina wasn’t sure what language he was singing in, but she still recognized it as a lullaby. Still smiling a little, Mina gave a small sigh and finally let herself rest. Leave it to a vampire to make her sleep.

The trip was a bit difficult since he couldn’t turn into a bat without waking her, but it was nothing the Count couldn’t handle. Soon enough, they were in her room, and the Count silently went to work.

He took off her jacket and shoes, untied her ponytail, placed her softly in bed, placed one of her favorite plushies in her arms, tucked her in, and - last but certainly not least - gave her a small kiss on the forehead. “Goodnight, Mina…” Mina simply continued to smile in her sleep, and that was a good enough reply for him. And with that, he transformed and flew back to his castle. 

Yes, it would get a bit harder to find time for the two best friends to meet as the years went on, and the time they did manage to spend together would most likely be shortened as well. The Count knew this, and Mina knew this. But they also both knew that their friendship was strong, and no amount of time consuming homework or late night extra curricular activities - or even fatigue itself - was going to break it. 

**THE END**


End file.
